The Unofficial Problem Bank List Just Rose Again And Is Now At 985

Note: this is an unofficial list of Problem Banks compiled only from public sources.

Here is the unofficial problem bank list for Mar 25, 2011.

Changes and comments from surferdude808:

The Unofficial Problem Bank List continued to climb as the FDIC released its actions for February 2011. This week, there were eight additions and five removals, which leaves the list with 985 institutions with assets of $431.1 billion.

The removals include the failed The Bank of Commerce, Wood Dale, IL ($163 million); one action termination against First Bank, Williamstown, NJ ($212 million); and three sales to private investors by West Michigan Community Bank, Hudsonville, MI ($123 million); Treaty Oak Bank, Austin, TX ($110 million Ticker: TOAK); and Community State Bank, Austin, TX ($21 million).

Other changes include the issuance of seven and termination of one Prompt Corrective Order. The FDIC terminated the PCA order against Seattle Bank, Seattle, WA and issued orders against The Village Bank, Saint George, UT ($209 million); First Heritage Bank, Snohomish, WA ($179 million); Summit Bank, Prescott, AZ ($81 million); and four subsidiaries of Capitol Bancorp (Ticker: CBCR): Michigan Commerce Bank, Ann Arbor, MI ($934 million); Bank of Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV ($375 million); Sunrise Bank of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ ($353 million); and Central Arizona Bank, Casa Grande, AZ ($76 million). Perhaps the FDIC is moving from forbearing to closure on Capitol Bancorp. Surprisingly, the FDIC has not enforced cross guaranty against Capital Bancorp when their subsidiaries have failed and they have allowed them to sell-off 12 subsidiaries.

With the passage of another quarter, it is time to update the transition matrix. The Unofficial Problem Bank List debuted on August 7, 2009 with 389 institutions with assets of $276.3 billion (see table). Over the past 19 months, 176 institutions have been removed from the original list with 120 due to failure, 40 due to action termination, and 16 due to unassisted merger. Almost 31 percent of the 389 institutions on the original list have failed, which is substantially higher than the 12 percent figure usually cited by the media as the failure rate for institutions on the FDIC Problem Bank List. Failed bank assets have totaled $166.6 billion or 60 percent of the $276.3 billion on the original list.

Since the publication of the original list, another 940 institutions have been added. However, only 772 of those 940 additions remain on the current list as 168 institutions have been removed in the interim. Of the 168 interim removals, 119 were due to failure, 32 were due to unassisted merger, 15 from action termination, and two from voluntary liquidation. In total, 1,329 institutions have made an appearance on the Unofficial Problem Bank List and 239 or 18.0 percent have failed. Of the 344 total removals, failure is the primary form of exit (239 or 69.5 percent) while only 55 or 16.0 percent have been rehabilitated. The average asset size of removals because of failure is $1.04 billion. Currently, the average asset size of institutions on the current list is $438 million versus $710 million on the original list.